It is interesting, and then not, to read election postmortems. In this case, Democrats, with some success on their resumes, earn calls from people who do postmortems. Read on, I am only going to cite one as prologue.
Axios AM ended its summary of all that went wrong for the Democrats with this: “In a 50-50 country, how do they articulate a theory of the case to win back voters and power?” Pardon my repetition of a word salad suggesting a failing statistics grade.
James Carville, the Democrat’s uber-political operative, is colorful. Colorful enough to be a candidate and not just an operative. He noted in the Bill Clinton days, “It’s the economy stupid,” and then more recently, “It’s winning stupid”. Carville’s anecdotes, pithy remarks and irreverences have even been converted to a movie. It’s title: “Winning Is Everything Stupid”. Persons who hunger for the White House should first talk to Sir James (my elevation).
My takeaway from the campaign, and to borrow from Carville, is, “It Is The Voter Stupid.” All voters. We all or at least most of us suffer from inflation. We all have to figure out and pay for the assimilation of millions of people who come across our southern border. We all have to pay for our excesses—whoops, we don’t because our excesses are funded by debt. Take a look at our $37 trillion dollar gap. Of course, ultimately, all of our children will have to shoulder that outrage.
In other words, the operative word in my political vocabulary is ALL. Sure, demographers tell us about economic, ethnic, and gender differences and on and on, but when the Democrat Party transitioned to the Identitarian one, it found that promising one group something to win their allegiance often angered other groups. Assembling a majority out of promises to an array of demographic targets is hard math.
Many, including me, thought the President-Elect had lost Evangelical Christians some number of times. And it is certain he lost some. But, his appeal on the issues that crossed many lines resulted in this sub-group remaining mostly loyal. Even as he waffled on what is thought to be their defining social issue, abortion, he remained relatively popular. My guess is that most people of faith found the President-Elect far from an admirable person but then concluded that certain character traits are extinct in the ambitious regions of politics.
I am also sure the Democrat pathologists, as they study the body politic, find it almost inexplicable that significant numbers of the stupidly called “people of color” seem to be moving to the Republican Party. People of color are so varied that the thought they are a homogeneous group is laughable.
Again, identitarian strategies are largely a losing proposition. ALL is the constituency. If you look at a United States map colored in Red or Blue it is awash in Red. I would suggest a postmortem in the Dakotas. Those who probe for opinions in South and North Dakota will find that a small state senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, does not capture what they expect from the ultimate government leader. While I am giving geographical advice take the convention to Kansas City.
David Brooks, in his New York Times column summing up, noted: “There’s something off about an educated class that looks in the mirror of society and only sees itself.” Brooks was politely noting the class divide. And, assuming the educated mostly voted for the Vice-President.
Yes, America is awash in people that do not need to worry about inflation. It is awash in people who have protected and lucrative sinecures, there are also people who have figured out how to live off of government support systems. But, even if a good job is done turning out the self-satisfied, the sum of them will not defeat those who worry from paycheck to paycheck regardless of their class position or ethnic grouping. Or, education; take a look at the number of young people with sterling credentials who find this job market baffling or fear losing their jobs to artificial intelligence.
As noted before, I am an independent. I am not a member of a political party although I was a Republican for some decades. I would like to have more political choice. America’s two parties have passed so many laws to protect their political duopoly that it is hard for other points of view to organize and get voter traction. Robert Kennedy Jr, who started with a great last name, spent millions to start a third party, then gave up and joined Donald Trump.
America is a citadel of diversity, but diversity of opinion has to be filtered and presented by one of two all-powerful political groups. Too bad! When the Federal Trade Commission finds two companies dominating a market they sue.
Finally, another word on the Red/Blue state dichotomy. Those on the Left should be worried that most States are Red, especially in a country of mobility. And that the chances of changing the way we elect a President through the electoral college, not the popular vote, is in the class of things that won’t be changed.
Andy Kim, New Jersey’s new Democrat Senator after winning on Tuesday, held a probing session with voters. He found a deep disgust in politics while noting that “there was a clear belief that Trump was different.” So even though Vice-President Harris was much more persuasive with billionaires and raised a great deal more money than Trump, he won.
I am fortunate. When I began being active in politics, I lived in Missouri. It was, in many ways, still Harry Truman’s Missouri. Democrats were elected to statewide offices. But Truman was right when he and all Missourians took pride in citing the State’s motto: “Show Me.” And because the emerging Republican Party led by John C Danforth was prepared to do just that, we began winning. Danforth’s motto was “I Dare You.”
Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al writes on themes from his book, Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books.
Gerry Early says
I was only able to get about half-way through this article because of repeated use of “Democrat” instead of “Democratic” Party. This is always used as an intentional insult by GOP members and is recognized as such by we Democrats.
If the author wants to reach across the political spectrum he can use the description of the Democratic Party.
Other than that, I usually think his essays are smart and useful.
David Montgomery says
This is a clear and convincing essay, short and to the point. I would just add my perspective as a traditional Catholic who finds himself aligned with Evangelical Christians almost all the time. It is not just that we are resigned to seeing that “certain character traits are extinct in the ambitious regions of politics.” Pope St John Paul II told us that “When it is not possible to overturn or completely abrogate a pro-abortion law, an elected official, … could licitly support proposals aimed at limiting the harm done by such a law…. This does not in fact represent an illicit cooperation with an unjust law, but rather a legitimate and proper attempt to limit its evil aspects.” As a faithful Catholic, I can morally vote for Trump or other GOP candidate when the alternative candidate has taken a worse position on the Right to Life and other Non-Negotiables. My duty as a Catholic is to vote for the candidate who will most help to mitigate evil and advance the common good. As Al Sikes wrote, it is a shame that the resulting choice no longer includes Democrats.
Ron Ketter says
So you choose to support a convicted felon, adjudicated sexual assaulter and fraudster, and insurrectionist instead of allowing for policies that would allow individuals to decide for themselves what to do with their body (and in fact support laws that condemn women to deadly infections instead of allowing medical procedures to save the lives of these women and mothers). That’s some moral position you have there….
David Montgomery says
Yes, because aside from the sexual assault charge, everything you say about Trump and the pro-life position on abortion is false.
Barbara Denton says
The sexual assault charge is also false. The woman was paid by a huge Democrat donor to bring the charges and the State of New York changed their law to allow it to proceed. There was no proof. Shame on every one involved and especially the liar who accused him.
Sarah Oppenheimer says
Not convicted until sentanced … the ‘Democratic Party’ fell hard for that one. Will be very entertaining to watch them make sense of a peaceful transfer of power to Hitler. Assuming he is not assassinated before January.
Jim Moses CDR, USN (Ret.) says
I offered this thought in response to an earlier Spy article; I repeat it here. An uncomfortable elephant in the room is that American men, and apparently a number of American women as well, have now told us – twice – that it is not yet time for a woman – any woman – to be our president. Pervasive inequities exist across nearly all elements of our society, and I suggest that – perhaps even subconsciously – they are applied as well at the highest level.
There can be no other rational explanation for the results of the last three presidential elections. “Social media” notwithstanding, there was too much good information out there – on the economy, immigration, foreign relations, pick a subject – to have been ignored in favor of the decisions that were made in two of them.
Did Representative Clyburn know something in February of 2020 that the rest of us did not?
Sarah Oppenheimer says
The American People are absolutely ready for a woman president. However a candidate for The United States commander in chief not knowing that there are in fact military members in active duty … unacceptable. Anyone who for even a moment considered Kamala Harris to be a competant candidate was brainwashed.
Barbara Denton says
You are absolutely correct. Kamala was not qualified to be President. She could not speak. Even the thought of her going up against Russia or China will send shivers down your spine. The most qualified person won. He will set us back on the correct path. We are a Representative Republic. We are not a Democracy. The Democrat Party is not called the Democratic Party. If this year is an example along with the previous two Presidential elections they are not even Democratic within their own group. The Republican lineup is strong. The Democrat’s lineup is nonexistent.